Who said today's was easy? Sorry, but not for me without resorting to greens early.

6:53 am

dorens

this is the hardest easy I've ever seen

6:55 am

irv

Finished

7:08 am

dorens

done.

8:29 am

smooth_pappa

go

8:37 am

smooth_pappa

done

9:11 am

spreadeagle

Go

9:19 am

ypsigirl

doners!

9:19 am

sprite

was it easy for you or not?

9:19 am

ypsigirl

I agree it was a bit tricky, I liked this one though.

9:20 am

sprite

congrats, btw :)

9:20 am

sprite

ok, will give it a try then. Started earlier today, but life got in the way.

9:20 am

ypsigirl

I got hung up for quite a bit and then it quickly fell into place. Good luck! Byeeee

9:21 am

sprite

bye

9:27 am

spreadeagle

Done. Had to think a little more than usual for an "easy"

9:28 am

sprite

am making progress, but have to think ahead more than usual with an easy

9:29 am

spreadeagle

I just got home from a week of skiing, so thinking is not real easy for me yet.

9:32 am

sprite

:)
hope you had fun!

9:33 am

spreadeagle

Oh yeah! Montana was great!

9:34 am

sprite

wonderful! Nothing like a great vacation to relax and get ready for normal life again ;)

9:35 am

spreadeagle

That's right. But I do hate dealing with airports.

9:36 am

sprite

yeah, I can imagine. Waste of time and energy.

9:44 am

spreadeagle

There's just too many people trying to get thru security. Then there is no place for all of these people to sit while they wait, since everyone is supposed to get there 2 hours before their flight.

9:45 am

sprite

exactly, and then you arrive at your destination and it all starts over, until you finally manage to retrieve your luggage (or not)

9:50 am

spreadeagle

Yesterday's puzzle was a good one. I'm working pretty hard on it without much progress.

9:50 am

sprite

I got stuck at 24 filled in and couldn't solve it without guessing. If you can solve it, I would really like to know how to beat the litlle bugger without guessing!

9:51 am

spreadeagle

OK, if I get it I will let you know.

9:51 am

sprite

I'd really appreciate that! My email is in my profile, just leave out the spaces.

9:52 am

spreadeagle

OK, but it doesn't look too promising right now.

9:53 am

sprite

lol, too bad, but at least I am not the only one having trouble with it!

9:54 am

sprite

nailed today's, though. Good luck with yesterday's, hope you can beat it!

9:55 am

spreadeagle

I'm slowing down with only 14 filled. But I don't give up easily. Going with the greens now to see if it helps.

10:06 am

OrangeSlice

Yesterday needs a... highly non-obvious maneuver to open up the puzzle. I don't know why it's a medium.

10:07 am

spreadeagle

sprite - Instead of me telling you how to solve it, you may need to tell me how to get to 24 filled....

10:08 am

spreadeagle

Thanks for the heads up, Orange.

10:08 am

OrangeSlice

I found it rather akin to the hard or expert puzzles that seem easy until you hit a certain point, and then you have to do something really weird to keep going.

10:09 am

spreadeagle

Well, it's obvious that it's not obvious.

10:11 am

OrangeSlice

It is a really ugly move

10:11 am

Shyzzy

meow

10:11 am

Shyzzy

ma hah

10:11 am

OrangeSlice

Start marking greens, then focus on the 1's on the far right and the very bottom. You will see it eventually.

10:12 am

spreadeagle

OK, thanks for the tip.

10:13 am

twstedangel

hey orange

10:13 am

OrangeSlice

Morning :)

10:13 am

twstedangel

how are you this beautiful sunday morning?

10:14 am

OrangeSlice

Well rested, certainly, but the weather outside is a bit gloomy.

10:14 am

Shyzzy

what up

10:14 am

twstedangel

that sucks. it's unusually warm, sunny and beautiful here in MA

10:15 am

OrangeSlice

Not here. It snowed a little on Friday, and the clouds are still hanging around.

10:16 am

OrangeSlice

Not even a spot of sun.

10:16 am

twstedangel

oh it was a mess here on Friday. Started out snowing a little, then icy rain, then rain and well... you know what happens then.

10:17 am

OrangeSlice

Ah yeah, we had a few days of that in January, it pretty much shut the city down.

10:18 am

twstedangel

a few off days from work, then?

10:18 am

OrangeSlice

We usually have a mild winter out here, so this has been weird.

10:18 am

twstedangel

the weather everywhere has been "weird" this year

10:18 am

OrangeSlice

Well, off from college. But yeah, we missed almost a week of class.

10:19 am

Shyzzy

orange!!!! i love you. marry me?

10:19 am

OrangeSlice

er...

10:20 am

twstedangel

hehe, i'll let you be... seems like you have an admirer. :-P

10:20 am

OrangeSlice

I wonder what I did now, lol

10:20 am

twstedangel

i think she figured the puzzle out... due to your tip

10:21 am

OrangeSlice

Ah, perhaps.

10:21 am

twstedangel

which was the key to solving it... yeserdays, I mean

10:21 am

twstedangel

Am I right, Shyzzy?

10:21 am

OrangeSlice

Yeah. It is also not a "medium" maneuver.

10:22 am

OrangeSlice

Unless there was another way of finding it, and I ended up doing the hard way. I suppose that's always possible.

10:23 am

twstedangel

then i did too... because that is how I solved it

10:24 am

OrangeSlice

Well I know that sometimes I use funky moves on easy and medium puzzle just because I see them, even though they aren't really necessary to solve it.

10:24 am

twstedangel

I've found with most puzzles... on here, other sites, printed material, etc. that by looking over the puzzle before you start... you usually see something that might help you solve it quicker, than just by "diving in"

10:25 am

twstedangel

exactly

10:25 am

twstedangel

i wish i would have seen that post before I posted my "essay"

10:25 am

twstedangel

lol

10:28 am

OrangeSlice

Sorry, got up to refill my coffee cup.

10:29 am

twstedangel

it's ok... i'm doing some archives

10:30 am

OrangeSlice

Yeah, I botched Dec. 30 last night.

10:30 am

OrangeSlice

Went all the way through it and ended up with one big chain that led to an impossbility every time.

10:31 am

twstedangel

you know i've had this account for almost a year and I forgot about it... i've actually been buying "printed" books and doing them... i've finished them all and then I went looking for printables off line and "remembered" my account on here...

10:31 am

twstedangel

then I felt so... dumb...

10:31 am

OrangeSlice

hehe

10:31 am

twstedangel

ooh, i hate that

10:31 am

twstedangel

dec. 30 was pretty difficult if i remember correctly

10:32 am

OrangeSlice

I have a book of puzzles that I used to take with me, but I think it's getting dusty in my room now.

10:32 am

twstedangel

i'm working on jan 23. right now... i have almost a whole year of puzzles to do

10:32 am

twstedangel

the thing with the printed books is, the spines... they never stay intact and then all the pages start falling out

10:32 am

OrangeSlice

I just bought my account a few weeks ago, but I've worked all through Jan. and Feb now.

10:33 am

twstedangel

the spiral bounds are no better either

10:33 am

OrangeSlice

Working on December

10:34 am

OrangeSlice

<-- Sudoku addict

10:34 am

twstedangel

I joined last March. I found this site by freak accident and loved it and well the price... for life was great... so I was sold. Besides. I was pregnant at the time and limitted on things that I could do... so... I fell in love with sudoku, thanks to my m.i.l

10:34 am

twstedangel

ditto

10:35 am

OrangeSlice

I would probably pay for it even if it was monthly, heh, I like it here.

10:36 am

twstedangel

my husband laughs at me... and my addiction. it's quite funny. he comes home from work and I either have a book that I'm doing them in... or I'm on the laptop..

10:37 am

twstedangel

no, I wouldn't pay monthly for something like this... I mean don't get me wrong... I love it here but ... I'd probably be a freebie player...

10:37 am

OrangeSlice

Well, if it was reasonable.

10:38 am

OrangeSlice

I probably wouldn't pay $15 a month for sudoku.

10:39 am

OrangeSlice

I think it's a novel idea though, socialized sudoku.

10:39 am

twstedangel

there is another "free" site I found when I bought one of the other books. I am not sure if it's up now because when I've tried to go there... I think it's down. but it's worth a shot. sudokupuzzler.com

10:39 am

twstedangel

yeah it is

10:40 am

OrangeSlice

I used to do 'em on a site that generated random puzzles from some algorithm, but I got bored when I could solve the "evil" ones really fast most of the time.

10:40 am

twstedangel

they've got timed puzzles ... so they're more of a challenge. I do them from time to time

10:40 am

OrangeSlice

hmm, I'll check it out

10:41 am

twstedangel

yeah I know... those type of puzzles... they take the fun out of sudoku

10:49 am

OrangeSlice

Gah I'm a dope. Staring at this puzzle for 10 minutes and the answer was right there in cross-cutting 9's. lol

10:49 am

twstedangel

the dec. 30?

10:50 am

OrangeSlice

Nah, different one.

10:50 am

mamabear

and here we go..... again

10:51 am

OrangeSlice

Good morning :)

10:52 am

mamabear

is easy easy or is it medium hard easy? or expert easy hard... or....

10:53 am

OrangeSlice

Super easy. All cross cuts.

10:53 am

mamabear

cool

10:59 am

OrangeSlice

OK, time to try Dec. 30 again.

10:59 am

OrangeSlice

Let's see where this goes today. hah

10:59 am

twstedangel

gl orange

11:00 am

OrangeSlice

If I can't do it, I resolve to stop doing sudoku and finish my homework.

11:00 am

mamabear

never say never orange

11:00 am

twstedangel

ooh, that's a pretty big rgamble

11:04 am

OrangeSlice

I should be doing my homework anyway. Usually I have it done by Sunday, but I've been feeling lazy this weekend.

11:04 am

twstedangel

we all go through that from time to time

11:04 am

twstedangel

right now, i'm "supposed" to be doing laundry.

11:05 am

OrangeSlice

I should probably do that too

11:05 am

twstedangel

my excuse... can't right now... the neighbors are doing theres. They just had a baby and I know what that's like...

11:06 am

OrangeSlice

I have no experience in that field.

11:07 am

twstedangel

my daughter's 7 months old now --- teething, cranky, and likes to get into things..

11:07 am

twstedangel

she's napping, so right now it's "me" time

11:09 am

OrangeSlice

Always good to have a bit of that from time to time

11:10 am

twstedangel

yeah, you have to... otherwise you may go insane

11:11 am

OrangeSlice

Alright, so far this puzzle is unfolding exactly as it did last night, and it's making me nervous.

11:11 am

mamabear

my kids are grown... yes.... you do.... insane....

11:12 am

mamabear

I don't like the way that sounds, orange

11:12 am

twstedangel

hmm... that could mean one of two things orange...

11:12 am

OrangeSlice

Gosh, everyone's older than me.

11:12 am

twstedangel

hey mamabear... any good teething remedies?

11:13 am

OrangeSlice

I am double-checking every move I make this time around.

11:13 am

OrangeSlice

If I reach an impossibility, then the puzzle is not solvable. lol

11:13 am

twstedangel

haha... nice try! :-P

11:16 am

OrangeSlice

Ok something's different now. I filled in a bunch of cells that were in the evil impossible chain from last time.

11:16 am

mamabear

teething.... teething.... lemme think

11:16 am

OrangeSlice

Not sure what move I made the mistake on before, but I think I got it right this time.

11:17 am

twstedangel

quite possibly...

11:17 am

twstedangel

we'll see

11:17 am

OrangeSlice

Heh I was about to type that.

11:18 am

OrangeSlice

Eliminated where the unique rectangle was too.

11:19 am

OrangeSlice

I must have really mangled this thing yesterday.

11:19 am

mamabear

ok. all green. another possible yuck

11:20 am

OrangeSlice

Done!

11:20 am

mamabear

ppppffffftttttt

11:20 am

twstedangel

congrats! Orange... see nothing is "impossible"

11:21 am

mamabear

I feel like Sargeant Schultz.... I see nothing!

11:22 am

OrangeSlice

Oh I can think of one thing, but it has nothing to do with sudoku.

11:23 am

spellacked

Did this one without greenies. Makes me feel a little better after the last couple.

11:23 am

OrangeSlice

Aye, we've had some tricky ones recently.

11:23 am

mamabear

no greenies? I'm feeling very inadequate....

11:26 am

mamabear

think I'll come back to this later after I go get my brain recharged or something.

11:26 am

twstedangel

yeah taking a break... sometimes helps mamabear

11:51 am

twstedangel

woo hoo... getting alot of the archives complete today!

11:51 am

OrangeSlice

Dec. 23 has me at a standstill right now.

11:52 am

twstedangel

you said that about the 30th... and you completed it... take a break then come back

11:52 am

twstedangel

start some of that laundry

11:52 am

twstedangel

;-P

11:52 am

OrangeSlice

I don't want to.

11:53 am

twstedangel

twas just a suggestion...

11:55 am

OrangeSlice

I'm not in the proper mental state right now.

11:56 am

OrangeSlice

Which probably sounds weird, but I have a, um, condition.

11:56 am

twstedangel

haha

11:56 am

twstedangel

with laundry?

11:56 am

OrangeSlice

Sometimes I have trouble doing normal things.

11:56 am

OrangeSlice

I have OCD.

11:57 am

twstedangel

oh... well then... that makes sense

11:57 am

twstedangel

there is nothing wrong with that

11:57 am

twstedangel

sorry for laughing I thought you were trying to be funny :-(

11:57 am

OrangeSlice

It's ok.

11:58 am

twstedangel

are you self-medicating or receiving treatment?

11:59 am

OrangeSlice

No, It's not severe. Most people have it a lot worse.

11:59 am

twstedangel

right, that is why i was asking. my bestfriend in highschool had it.. but not severely

12:00 pm

twstedangel

so i am a little more understanding about the condition

12:00 pm

OrangeSlice

It comes and goes. Sometimes I'll just start doing something over and over again, and I can't stop.

12:00 pm

OrangeSlice

And other times I can function just fine.

12:01 pm

twstedangel

well, as long as it doesn't really interfere with your life to the point that you're unhappy... then I don't see a reason to get treatment

12:02 pm

twstedangel

i used to get like that when i was younger... when i got mad, i mean really mad... i'd clean. so you could always tell when i was pissed off

12:02 pm

twstedangel

it was kind of like anger management therapy.

12:03 pm

OrangeSlice

I can usually control it by avoiding certain things

12:04 pm

twstedangel

like "triggers"

12:04 pm

OrangeSlice

Though I also tend to avoid people, because it's rather embarrassing when someone asks you why you're doing such-and-such over and over again for no apparent reason.

12:05 pm

twstedangel

that's not a real way to live. you need to have human interaction. people are just... well... people. they sometimes ask stupid questions...

12:06 pm

twstedangel

you shouldn't alienate yourself because of something that you have not control/or little control over

12:06 pm

OrangeSlice

I don't think most people can understand.

12:07 pm

twstedangel

you have a point there.

12:08 pm

twstedangel

do your parents know about your ocd? or have you been able to hide it from them?

12:08 pm

OrangeSlice

No, my parents don't know.

12:08 pm

OrangeSlice

As I said, I can mostly control it when I'm around people, but I've been caught once or twice, just not by them.

12:09 pm

twstedangel

is this something that developed rather quickly or have you always been like this?

12:09 pm

OrangeSlice

hmm... I guess it's been about a year now.

12:10 pm

twstedangel

is this like a coping mechanism... for nervousness or stress?

12:10 pm

OrangeSlice

Since I've been conscious of it, at least. I've always led a rather solitary life, so it's not much of a surprise if nobody ever noticed me doing something funny.

12:11 pm

twstedangel

so you were like an outcast?

12:11 pm

OrangeSlice

I guess.

12:11 pm

OrangeSlice

I was homeschooled from grade 6 on.

12:12 pm

twstedangel

if i am prying, getting too personal or making you uncomfortable please tell me

12:13 pm

OrangeSlice

Nah it's alright.

12:13 pm

twstedangel

ok

12:14 pm

OrangeSlice

I've accepted it to the point that I can talk about it, but I still don't really want people to know.

12:14 pm

OrangeSlice

But this is the Internet, so I guess the social situation is a little more comfortable.

12:15 pm

twstedangel

I understand completely...

12:16 pm

twstedangel

yeah, i'm not looking at you, you're not looking at me... you don't feel like you're being judged (regardless if you are or not) and for some reason talking to other people is therapeutic

12:16 pm

OrangeSlice

Right.

12:16 pm

twstedangel

at least that is what it's like for me

12:16 pm

OrangeSlice

I can be "me" on the Internet.

12:17 pm

twstedangel

i don't like talking to people (that i don't know... i.e party, social setting) unless i know them

12:17 pm

twstedangel

RIGHT!

12:18 pm

twstedangel

the internet has been great to me, ever since I discovered it. I've met some fascnating, wonderful, people and discovered who I was without all of the uncomfortability of actual social interactions.

12:18 pm

twstedangel

is that even a word?

12:19 pm

OrangeSlice

It's a word in the sense that it has a clear meaning to it.

12:20 pm

OrangeSlice

I've gotten away with a couple of those in papers for English courses.

12:20 pm

twstedangel

but as in found in the dictionary, or used in every day conversation... is another story

12:21 pm

skizzybiz

it's uncomfortableness :)

12:21 pm

twstedangel

now that sounds more made up than what i said :-P

12:22 pm

twstedangel

thanks skizzy ;-P

12:23 pm

skizzybiz

noooooo prob

12:44 pm

OrangeSlice

Whew, finally solved it.

12:44 pm

OrangeSlice

Guess I'll go try to do something productive.

12:44 pm

twstedangel

wtg!

12:45 pm

OrangeSlice

Thanks and goodbye

12:46 pm

twstedangel

later orange. have a good day

12:57 pm

NonoNanette

just finished up November

4:18 pm

drwho

Difficulty score 25. There is a lot of symmetry. Watch for it, it will help.

4:49 pm

Fizzbut

go

5:01 pm

Fizzbut

done

8:22 pm

mamabear

OH!!!!!!

8:22 pm

OrangeSlice

Oh?

8:23 pm

mamabear

OH!!!!

8:24 pm

OrangeSlice

oh my

8:24 pm

mamabear

5 always was a good number

8:25 pm

derfasaurus

yeah, it killed me too

8:31 pm

mamabear

dun du dun dun

8:32 pm

OrangeSlice

I'm working on Dec. 15

8:34 pm

mamabear

have fun, Orange! ....til next time!

9:16 pm

OrangeSlice

Whew.

9:48 pm

spreadeagle

Hey Orange, when I found a few uninterrupted minutes, I solved yesterday's puzzle without any problems. I used greens to help identify more of what could not go in a cell than what could. Beyond that, it was mostly just crosshatching. Several people seemed to get to 24 cells filled in before hitting a snag, at which point you suggested looking closely at the 1's. By the time I had 24 filled, I had all 9 of the 1's solved. One note: I tried at first using autofill for the greens I got nowhere. When I went back and did it manually it was much easier to see the solution.

9:49 pm

OrangeSlice

I never use reds, so maybe you found another route.

9:51 pm

OrangeSlice

Sudoku is like math. There are different ways to manipulate it, but as long as you use legal rules, you'll always get the right answer.

9:51 pm

spreadeagle

I didn't use reds either. I just used the greens in one cell to help me see what was not possible in another. This happened three or four time in this puzzle.

9:55 pm

OrangeSlice

Well, sounds like you essentially used greens to function as reds. I can't use reds because my alt key is broken, but I never saw much of a need for them anyway.

9:55 pm

OrangeSlice

It's always good to see another unique way of solving things.

9:57 pm

OrangeSlice

Maybe that's why it was a medium.

9:57 pm

OrangeSlice

The technique I used (and suggested to others) was definitely not something one should have to use on a medium.

9:58 pm

davekingpt

glad I'm not the only one that had trouble yesterday

9:58 pm

davekingpt

But I got the 1s quickly also

9:59 pm

spreadeagle

I really hate having to guess, even more so on a "medium". What this showed me was that autofill can prevent me from seeing some rather basic steps that lead to a solution. I have stated this here before, and I just had to relearn the lesson myself.

10:00 pm

Doni

question....does one have to be on line throughout the whole puzzel...I mean can you work it off line then before you actually finish it, get back on line?

10:01 pm

davekingpt

what is autofill?

10:01 pm

spreadeagle

Doni - I think you have to be online.

10:02 pm

spreadeagle

dave - There is a javascript around that can be entered to give you all of the greens. Do you understand what we mean by greens?

10:03 pm

davekingpt

sure. I understand what you said earlier too. I enter greens selectively at first. I can spot pairs at times and avoid entering some greens. (rather than using reds)

10:04 pm

spreadeagle

There is another one that actually solves the puzzle, but I think that is wrong to use.

thnx, but I think I'll stick to entering them myself, for the reason we agree.

10:06 pm

OrangeSlice

guess? I used a dual xwing to solve yesterday's.

10:06 pm

OrangeSlice

I don't guess. Ever.

10:07 pm

spreadeagle

I would have had to guess since I've never understood the xwing solution, even tho I've looked at the solution on scanraid several times.

10:08 pm

spreadeagle

Maybe I'm just too old to learn new tricks.......

10:09 pm

OrangeSlice

There was an xwing on the far right that isolated the proper cells on the bottom to create another xwing along the bottom boxes that isolated two cells on the lower left, that opened the puzzle.

10:09 pm

OrangeSlice

That's what I used to solve yesterday's.

10:10 pm

OrangeSlice

A nasty move that I hope never to need to use again.

10:11 pm

davekingpt

and that was on a "medium"?

10:11 pm

spreadeagle

Hey, if it works for you, great. I didn't need it for this puzzle. I'm sure there have been times when I had to guess that the xwing would have provided a solution. I will continue to try to understand what scanraid is trying to teach me. I'm just a slow learner.

10:11 pm

OrangeSlice

Like I said, it's not something I expect to have to use on a medium, but I was stuck, and that's what I eventually saw.

10:13 pm

spreadeagle

dave - Check out scanraid.com for an explanation of xwing and other advanced strategies for solving puzzles.

10:13 pm

OrangeSlice

xwings actually show up fairly often; though it's rare that you actually require them to solve, they usually speed things up a bit.

10:14 pm

OrangeSlice

it's a useful technique to know how to do, but that one could probably do just fine without.

10:14 pm

davekingpt

Yes, I have scanraid in my "favorites" but don't seem to get there very often

10:15 pm

OrangeSlice

I used the "guardian" strategy from scanraid for the first time earlier today

10:16 pm

spreadeagle

This was probably a good puzzle to use xwing on for practice. If I get time tomorrow I will go back and try to figure it out. Now, "guardian" is not one I've heard of before.

10:16 pm

helenkeller

go

10:17 pm

OrangeSlice

It's used for breaking chains.

10:17 pm

davekingpt

Just read scanraid. Y'know I've used the x-wing a few times but didn't know it wasa a formal strategy. I just kinda reasoned it out

10:18 pm

OrangeSlice

The guardian was hard for me to see, because I've never had to use it before

10:19 pm

OrangeSlice

But I was stuck on a chain on Dec. 15 and after staring at it for a while and figuring out which cells depended on which other cells, I managed to eliminate one candidate and start filling in the chain.

10:19 pm

OrangeSlice

And it worked. Puzzle solved, no guesses :)

10:20 pm

OrangeSlice

I always feel good after doing an expert.

10:20 pm

spreadeagle

Orange, Dave - I have enjoyed this, but I'm going to have to let you two keep discussing this without me. I got in last night at 1:00 AM after a week of skiing in Montana and the sleep monster is calling me. Goodnight.

10:21 pm

OrangeSlice

I'm probably hitting the sack as well as soon as I finish this one.

10:21 pm

OrangeSlice

Have a nice rest.

10:21 pm

davekingpt

Spread - you're killing me. I never got to the slopes this year

10:21 pm

davekingpt

I should be working instead of playing here. at this rate I'll never hit the hay.

10:21 pm

davekingpt

night spread

10:23 pm

spreadeagle

My first time in three years. The knees and thighs aren't what they used to be, but I can still point 'em downhill better than my 17 year old son. And he really hates that. :)

10:24 pm

davekingpt

It'll remind him of Mark Twain's saying

10:25 pm

spreadeagle

?

10:25 pm

davekingpt

"The older I got, the wiser my Father became" or something to that effect

10:26 pm

spreadeagle

I thought of this one, but I don't know who wrote it: "Old age and treachery will win out every time over youth and exubreance"